Jimmy Carpenter

Toiling in Obscurity

2009-10-23

This album feels like an emotional joy-ride; stealing his feelings for an hour or so, just to drive around with them. It's an impressively solid debut album. The liner notes say it's like a "soundtrack to [his] career." I can agree to that, the main thing holding these songs together is guy who wrote them; the songs on this album have a range of styles. I didn't mind. From the danceable bebop of “Upswing”, to the folk-poppy “On the Skids”, to the near-gospel style of “Shine a Light,” to the purely instrumental jazz of “Sinner Street” and “Prisoner of Love”, to the Latin-based sound of “Screeching Halt”, Carpenter pulls off every style of music he tossed on here, with excellent musicianship. Let's hope this first isn't also his last solo effort. Recommends: ( 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 ) ~ Chris Thomas

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